


Friends Become Lovers

by anemptymargin



Series: New Beginnings [2]
Category: Psych
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-13
Updated: 2012-05-13
Packaged: 2017-11-05 08:08:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/404194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anemptymargin/pseuds/anemptymargin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry and Karen discuss their immediate future over dinner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friends Become Lovers

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [older_not_dead promptathon 9](http://older-not-dead.livejournal.com/). 
> 
> Prompt: ?. ?/?. Friends become lovers.

It was a few days before they could even look at each other again, so Henry was surprised when not long after he received a text message from Karen on his day off.

 

_Dinner at your place, five sharp. We’ll talk._

Even reading it, he could hear her making it clear that it’s non-negotiable. Which made it even more confusing each time he looked at it to make sure it said what he thought it said. So they’d talk – talking is good, maybe. They could talk about the stuff he left out of Psych’s official report on the case. Of course, he was pretty damn sure that’s not what she was in the mood to discuss.

 

_Got it what am I making?_

_Anything you want. Just be there._

That message was even clearer. Figuring it was for the best, he cleared his calendar – sorry Gus, learning to make ravioli can wait – and ensured the place was presentable and a roast was ready to go on the table when she showed up with a bottle of red wine.

 

“Karen,” he smiled, opening the door at exactly five; “this your way of inviting me on a dinner date?”

 

“I didn’t use that word, Henry. You did. I’m just here to talk.” Even she sounded like she wasn’t so sure on the matter. “Wow, it smells really good in here… is that… pot roast?”

 

“Yup.” Henry nodded; “Just getting ready to pull it out of the oven and plate up if you’re hungry.”

 

“Starving, I skipped lunch to finish the paperwork on the Caminos. The DA was pretty shocked at the wealth of evidence we were able to dig up.” She took off her suit jacket and slung it over the back of Henry’s sofa before stepping out of her shoes and making her way to the table.

 

“Make yourself at home,” Henry replied, watching her from the kitchen as he made a pair of plates straight out of the roaster.

 

“Don’t mind if I do.” She invited herself to the wine glasses, taking the corkscrew off his wet bar straight to the dinner table to pour a glass for each of them. “You know, Henry… you’re something else. I definitely wasn’t expecting a homemade pot roast dinner.”

 

“Why’s that?” he brought out the plates, setting both on the table before retrieving silverware. “It’s not that hard to make and takes up a few hours while I pick up a bit.”

 

“I’ve seen how you keep house, Henry. I’m sure you didn’t have to pick up much.”

 

“Yeah, well… I threw a nap in there too.” He grinned sheepishly, finally sitting at the head of the table. “I remembered you really liked it the last time I brought you dinner.”

 

She couldn’t help but smile, hiding a slight blush behind a large sip of wine. Leave it to Henry Spencer to remember her enjoying pot roast three years ago. “Thank you, Henry. I know its short notice but I thought now that things aren’t as uncomfortable we should probably talk about what happened.”

 

He finished chewing his bite and swallowed, looking down at his plate as he skewered a gravy-heavy potato. “What do you mean?”

 

“You know what I mean, Henry. The phone calls, that kiss…”

 

“We don’t have to talk about that.” He took another large bite.

 

Karen sighed, taking several bites herself – relishing the flavor that only he seemed to be able to produce – and then said the one thing she knew would open up the floor. “I think we should sleep together.”

 

Henry dropped his fork with a loud clatter against the plate and took the napkin out of his shirt collar. “Karen, I… I…”

 

“No, you’re going to listen to me now.” She spoke calmly, evenly, between bites. “We both know that there’s been this sort of thing between us since you came back. Neither of us has been ready to acknowledge it, but it’s there.”

 

“I…”

 

“No. You said that you think you’re in love with me.” The words came out easily, without the hint of mocking that would imply she disagreed. “And we need to deal with that.”

 

“By sleeping together? That is the craziest…” Karen folded her arms across her chest and gave him a stern look and he apologized; “Sorry, go ahead.”

 

“When I kissed you the other day, I wanted to be sure that it was something I wanted and not just a thrill from getting attention and feeling like I had power over you.” She sighed; “And now, I’m pretty sure that I want this to happen. On our terms.”

 

“Can I talk now?” Henry frowned, and when she nodded he responded; “Sleeping together isn’t going to change anything, even if this is mutual… which I don’t even know for sure… it just means that instead of a drunken confession and one kiss we’ve got this whole other thing to deal with.

 

“Why wouldn’t it be mutual, Henry? I mean… you told me yourself – sober – that you _love_ me.”

 

“I said I _might_ love you… I don’t know, okay – it’s confusing and awkward and a really, really bad idea to go down that road. You’re a happily married woman, even if you weren’t my boss…”

 

“Okay, for one, Henry,” her voice took on a hard note; “we both know that if we do this, it’s not going to have any impact in our career – I will still treat you the same way I always have. Two, just because I’m married doesn’t mean I’m happy and I think we both know that.”

 

“Fine, but…”

 

“No ‘but’, Henry. I’m being serious here; if you want to give this a try then we should see where it goes.”

 

A long silent moment passed between them and Karen casually ate her dinner as though they weren’t talking about drastically changing everything. After she’d finished her first glass of wine and a significant amount of her meal, Henry said; “We’re friends, Karen. I don’t want to lose you as a friend if we go through with this.”

 

“That’s not going to happen.” Karen laid down her fork and knife and then daintily wiped her lips and dropped her napkin on her plate. “You do make a delicious pot roast.”

 

And like that, Henry realized she was putting the ball in his court – he’d have to make the decision to buy into her oddly simple request or keep things as they were. He wasn’t used to sex being discussed so candidly – like they were talking about going to a ballgame or who’s picking up donuts in the morning. He waited, considering everything she had said, as she poured out another round of wine and he cleared the table. Halfway through his second glass, still waiting for her to say something, he quietly said; “Okay, how is this going to work out?”

 

An easy smile curled her lips and she said; “I think it might be easiest for us to get the sex part out of the way first – so it’s not hanging over us when we go out on a date.”

 

“Wait, now there’s dating too?”

 

“Well, I’m not the kind of girl that just sleeps with a guy she’s not even dating.” She grinned, laughing softly. “What, you don’t want to go out on date?”

 

“No, no… a date would be great… I’m just not used to being told I’m going have one while I’m talking about sleeping with someone.”

 

“Good, right. Well, I think maybe we should go upstairs and see what happens!” She pushed up on her feet, all smiles with that easy air about her that made it simple enough for Henry to just accept what she was saying at face value. He could do it. They… could maybe try working it out.

 

“So, what… now we’re dating?”

 

She rolled her eyes, reaching for his hands. “We can still be friends, Henry. Just… friends that are maybe trying out being more than just friends.”

 

“Trying out…” he nodded slowly, letting her help him up. “…right, okay. Yeah. Let’s try this out.”

 

“That’s the Henry Spencer I know.” She grasped his shirt by the wood buttons down the front of the hibiscus print, pulling him in close; “And the one I want to get to know better.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fictional parody in no way intended to infringe upon the rights of any individual or corporate entity. Any and all characters or celebrity personae belong to their rightful owners. Absolutely no money has or will be gained from this work. Please do not publicly link, repost or redistribute without letting me know first.


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